Marion Barry the Only Check of Rhee?

Washington CityPaper's Loose Lips did a recent column on Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's views of Michelle Rhee.

Look at it this way: On her side, Rhee has the mayor, the president of the United States, Capitol Hill, the Washington Post editorial board, high-minded news and policy magazines, the Federal City Council crowd, most liberal education pundits, most conservative education pundits, and middle-class parents. On the other side, you have teachers unions, some local education activists, and a cadre of parents and residents alienated by her “consensus is overrated” style. The only organ they have that can check Rhee is the D.C. Council.

Mike (Loose Lips) nailed the issue with Rhee. So many of the "in" crowd out there cheers her, roots for her, fawns all over what they smell in the air as a win. A win.

The Fawning reminds me of how the talk with Charter Schools and School Vouchers was all about how these schools would solve the crisis in education. Hmm, how's that worked for us so far? Nearly 20 years in and there's little or no difference.

A state-funded study of Indiana’s charter schools has found that “no practical difference” exists between the alternative schools and traditional public schools.

And it's not like we haven't already wasted money on these issues which even the Post noted way back in 2005

In all, Jos-Arz received about $15 million in city funds, of which $2.3 million was used for renovation expenses, former officials from the school say. Although there is sharp debate over who is to blame, everyone involved agrees that the city's investment essentially was wasted

And it's not like DC and Indiana are the only places with these issues. Just last year, former Attorney General of Ohio, Marc Dann filed his 4th suit against a charter school.

Attorney General Marc Dann today filed suit against Harmony Community School in Cincinnati, citing the charter school for "abject academic failure, gross financial mismanagement, ethical lapses, and what amounts to consumer fraud."

I've done it all. Private, public and charter. My daughter has attended urban and suburban school districts in three different states. I get it. And it's not about teachers, it's about students and their parents and all the issues that are involved in all of that. And from most of what Barry says in the CityPaper, it's clear he gets it, I'm not so sure about everyone else.